The State Government has not yet been able to trace the missing keys of Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar but has spent over Rs 22 lakh on the Judicial Commission which inquired into the circumstances leading to loss of the keys.
Meanwhile, the Government has received the commission's report on the missing keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar (temple treasury) of the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri.
Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra informed this while replying a question of Congress member Narasingha Mishra in the Assembly that the report is under examination.
Former Orissa High Court Judge Justice Raghubir Das has prepared the inquiry report.
“Though the Judicial Commission was mandated to submit its report within three months, it was later extended for another six months.
An amount of Rs 22,27,918 was spent for the judicial inquiry,” the Minister informed the Assembly. The State Government had on June 4, 2018 announced
setting up of a Judicial Commission to probe the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar in the face of State-wide resentment.
The incident came to light when a 16-member team on April 4, 2018 entered the Ratna Bhandar after 34 years to inspect its physical conditions following an order of the Orissa High Court.
However, they could not enter the inner chambers as they did not have the keys.
They returned after completing the inspection of the outer chambers.
At a meeting of the Sri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on April 4 last year, it was recorded for the first time that the keys of the inner chambers of the Ratna Bhandar had gone missing.
According to the norms, a panel is formed each time before opening the Ratna Bhandar.
The members of the panel are supposed to hand over the keys to the Puri Collector after the work.
The inner chambers of the Ratna Bhandar were last opened in 1984.
The then Puri Collector Arvind Agarwal, during the committee meeting, had said there was no report of key submission after inspection.
The incident had then triggered a State-wide outcry with political parties, including the BJP, seeking a clarification from the Chief Minister.
Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati had also criticised the State Government and the temple administration for not keeping the Ratna Bhandar keys in safe custody.
Minister Mishra said the Odisha Government has set up nine judicial panels so far in the past 10 years for the probe into various cases, including the Ratna Bhandar keys missing issue.